Vol. XVII. No. 430. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEW.& 



331 



DOWN THE ISLANDS. 



ITEMS OF LOCAL INTEREST. 



P GRENADA. Mr. -J.C '. Moore, Supednten.lent of AgHcul- 



r ture, states that during the month of August the work on 

 the Experiment Station consisted chiefly of routine work on 

 lawns, roads, and plots. Some onions were harvested from 

 sets planted in .June. Apparatus and materials for spraying 

 j tlirips on cacao were supplied to several planters. The 

 following distribution of plants was made from the E.^cperi- 

 ment Station: limes, iOO; coco-nuts, 787; grafted mangoes, 

 3; ornamental plants, 2. Besides, there were sent out .3.51b. of 

 Sea Island cotton seed, and 3 packets of other seed. With 

 regard to staple crops, Mr. Moore regards the coming cacao 

 crop as promising to be fiir on the whole, although thrips are 

 troublesome in places. Spraying for the control of this pest is 

 being proceeded «ith on several estates. The lime crop is 

 reported to be normal. The spice crop is good, and high 

 prices are obtained, a large shipment having been recently 

 made. At the South end of the Island the Sea Island cotton, 

 ratooned from 1917, suffered much from the dry weather. June 

 sowings elsewhere are said to show promise. Some further 

 sowing in September is contemplated. The weather during 

 I August was very hot: the rainfall at Richmond Hill wa.<! 

 6 5.5 inches. 



MOXTSERKAT. Plant distribution during the month of 

 August was as follows: Bay plants, 350: pigeon peas. Oft.: 

 sword beans, 1ft.: bread-.Md- cheese seeds, 2ft.; Lima beans, 

 4: ft.: and red Bougainvillaea, 8 plants; black eye peas, 3 pack- 

 ' ets. The reaping of the first crop of cotton on the breeding 

 plot in the experiment station was practically completed, the 

 yield being in the neighbourhood of 200 ft. of lint per acre, 

 vith prospects of a good second crop. In the Botanic 

 ~^:ation six distillations of bay leaves were made, including 

 two further tests with sea-water in the boiler. 



Mr. W. Robson, states that the rainfall has been 

 . inadequate for the cotton crop of the island as a whole, and 

 is of opinion that unless there is a much larger second crop 

 than u.sual, the. returns cannot' come up to the average of 

 previous years. The Cotton Stainer Ordinance and the Ordi- 

 nance of 1918, relating to the close .season for cotton and 

 enforcing the destruction of the host plants of this pests 

 have been passed. 



A short lime crop is anticipated on account of the 

 drought. The total rainfall registered for the month at the 

 Grove Station was 4'6.5 inches. 



viR(4ix ISLANDS. Mr. W. C. Fishlock, Curator, writes 

 to say that, owing to drought and scarcity of labour, little 

 beyond ordinary routine work could be attempted in the 

 Experiment Station. PLant distribution consisted of 56 ft. 

 of cotton seed. Consequent on the drought, the conditions 

 of cultivation throughout the i.slands was poor, and there 

 was no progress to report. 



Rain fell in measurable quantity on fourteen days of the 

 month, the total fall recorded at the station being 1'97 

 inche.s, as compared with 412 inches, the average lor the 

 previous seventeen years. A cyclonic disturbance passed 

 apparently north-east of Tortola on August 23. The storm 

 ■was either a moderate one, or its centre far away, as the usual 

 heavy rains on the fringe of such storms were not experienced. 



AGRICULTURE IN BARBADOS. 

 The rainfall for September was regular and continuous, 

 iair (lays were few, and they were sincerely appreciated, 

 ironi the 4th to the 8th, from the 9th to the 13th, and from 

 the 18th to the 23rd there were summer days, but practically 

 on every other day rain fell in varying .luantities. Oh 

 several occasions there were general rains of over an inch, 

 while in some districts there were heavy downpours. In the 

 northern, north-western, and southern parts of the island the 

 rain gauge record is above the average, while in every part of 

 the island the total was equal to the figures of the most 

 favourable years. 



The plant canes everywhere continue ti make excellent 

 progress, and many fields are now being stimulated bv the 

 recent application of sulphate of ammonia. The length 

 of cane is very satisfactory, aud we cannot remember having 

 seen any field in which there is any sign (,{ di.sease. 



The ratoons, like the plant canes, have had very favour- 

 able weather, and, generally speaking, are developing fairly 

 well. They are thick, but not as forward as we should like 

 to see them. 



Apart from the condition of the soil necessary for the 

 production of healthy ratoons, planters have also to consider 

 whether the seedling grown is capable of producing satisfac- 

 tory crops both as plant-canes and ratoons. It would appear 

 that a more libera! treatment will have to be the order of the 

 day, if the seedlings best suited for ratooning are to be able 

 to keep up their vigour for first and second ratoons. We are 

 glad to say that planters are beginning to lose their liith in 

 the inexhaustibleuess of the .soil for a protracted period of 

 ratooning. We should also like to see entirely discontinued 

 the practice of forcing back for plant canes fields from which 

 three or four crops have been previously reaped. 



Tillage has been retarded during the past fortnight, and 

 it has been possible to weed only spasmodically. I'ecking, 

 cane-hole digging and the gathering of material f'^r iiunurial 

 purposes were proceeded with fairly regularly, but it was 

 too wet even for forking. 



Potatoes are more plentiful in Bridgetown and the 

 leeward parishes, but in the centre of the island there is still 

 some scarcity of this vegetable. The price in Bridgetown 

 a few days ago was 84 cents per 100 ft. 



Indian corn is being sold at 7s. per bushel, and hucksters 

 are selling the meal at the same price as at the date of our 

 last report — 4 cents per pint. 



The yam crop is developing well. If a favourable 

 < )ctober assures a good return, the coming crop ought to be 

 a satisfactory one. A few new yams have been sold at the 

 rate of 4 ft. for 10 cents. (The B.irbado.s As,rkulli!ral 

 Reporter, October 5, 191 S.) 



DEPARTMENT NEWS. 



The Imperial ( "oiniinssioiitT ot .\griculture has left 

 Barbados for St. Vincent with the object of payinij an 

 otlicial visit to that Colony. Sir Francis Watts is 

 expected to return to P)arbados in about two weeks time. 



Mr. W. Nowel!, D.I.C., Mycologist on the staff of 

 the Imperial Department of Agriculture, has left tor 

 Grenada, at the request of the Government of that 

 island, for the purpose of investigating a disease of 

 coco- nuts. 



